Meet the Women Striving for Success at the 2026 Dakar Rally
- Anny Wooldridge
- 2 days ago
- 9 min read
The ultimate endurance race returns for the 2026 edition with over 40 women taking part in the 48th running of the Dakar Rally. The Rally Raid Championship kicks off on Saturday 3, January and covers a race distance of 8,000 kilometres over 13 Stages.
Taking place in the Saudi Arabian desert, this year’s race starts in Yanbu, with a Riyadh midway point rest day before finishing back in Yanbu on Saturday, 17 January. This year’s running has plenty of intrigue, with big names switching teams, a new stock category, and new rookies taking to the dunes.
Dakar this year features over 800 competitors, including 42 women, with 69 nationalities represented, racing in 433 vehicles across bikes, ultimate vehicles, challenger vehicles, trucks, classic cars and stock vehicles.
All-female teams at the Dakar Rally 2026
This year’s running of the Dakar Rally will feature all-female teams, including the Gazelles Off Road Team, the "Ladies Dakar Team", an X-raid team and the French duo Sophie Bié and Christine Bernard.
X-raid has an all-female crew, Maria Gameiro (POR) and Rosa Romero (ESP), competing in the Ultimate category with a MINI JCW Rally 3.0d. Maria Gameiro has only been racing since 2022, but is joined by Rosa Romero, who has no less than 11 Dakars under her belt, seven of them on bikes. To ensure they are adequately prepared for their challenge, they have been busy racing throughout 2025.
The “Ladies Dakar Team”, an Italian crew featuring Rachele Somaschini, Serena Rodella, and Monica Buonamano, is participating in the Dakar Classic Truck race in a Mercedes Unimog. They are taking part with TECNOSPORT.
Sophie Bié and Christine Bernard are a French team who were both first inspired to take part in the race after watching the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1979. Christine is a Burgundy-based dentist and Sophie obtained her license at ASA Morvan in 2016, where she met Christine. They will be sharing driving duties for their Toyota HDJ 100 and competing in the Classic Auto class.
The Gazelles Off Road Team was formed by friends Marcella Kirk and Helen Tait-Wright, who will compete in the Dakar Classic, using a specially modified 1988 Land Rover Defender.
Women to watch
There are some very experienced racing drivers competing, who have very good chances at stage and title wins. Sara Price, Cristina Gutiérrez, Valentina Pertegarini, Dania Akeel, Rebecca Busi and Laia Sanz are all on the start list.
Sara Price returns with co-driver Sean Berriman
Sara Price has one goal and one goal only: to take overall victory in her class with the all-new Defender Factory team in the new Stock category.
The four-times Dakar Stage winner is competing once again with her previous co-driver Sean Berriman; this American duo aims to make their country proud.
Sara made an impression at her debut at the race, becoming the first female American driver and third woman ever to win a stage. Their meticulous preparation and strong partnership promise a solid performance.
Cristina Gutiérrez is back with Pablo Moreno
Cristina Gutiérrez is back competing with Pablo Moreno; together, they have gone from lightweight prototypes to the premier category with Dacia. This year, they are competing in the T1+: Prototype Cross-Country Cars 4x4 class.
Gutiérrez will be competing in her 10th Dakar Rally and her second in the Premier Class. She is aiming for another podium this year and more stage wins to add to her tally of five.
A dentist by profession, this passionate driver made history in 2024 as the second female to win a Dakar Rally category, after Jutta Kleinschmidt's overall victory in 2001. Since her debut in the world's toughest race in 2017, she became the first Spanish woman to finish and the first Spanish woman to win at the Dakar Rally.
Dania Akeel is back, fresh off her third-place finish
Taking part in her fifth Dakar Rally, Dania Akeel is back with her French co-driver, Stéphane Duple, who will be part of the BBR team driving a very competitive Taurus and has dreams of making it on the final podium in the Challenger class.
Together, they aim to conquer the dunes and inspire a new generation of women in the Middle East. Akeel aims to build on her momentum from the 2025 season, when she became the fourth woman to win a stage in Dakar.
The Saudi Arabian driver's season didn’t stop there; she participated in the FIA 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship, won the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge and came third in the 2025 FIA Rally-Raid World Championship for Challenger.
Laia Sanz takes on a new challenge with co-driver Maurizio Gerini
Laia Sanz has an impressive record, having competed at Dakar every year since her debut in 2011. She has a remarkable 14 consecutive race finishes, but unfortunately broke that streak last year after withdrawing from stage two.
Sanz is the leading female figure in off-road racing, notably the Dakar Rally. Having won the female category in all 11 appearances on two wheels. In 2015, she managed to get into the top 10 of the overall motorcycles with a spectacular and still historic 9th place. In 2022, she switched to cars and has proved she’s just as formidable on four wheels.
This year, she's got a new challenge: leading an untested team and car through the world's toughest rally, and she'll be joined by co-driver Maurizio Gerini. It's certainly a team to watch.
Aliyyah Koloc back for round four
Aliyyah Koloc will take part in her fourth Dakar Rally, which, at just 21, is an impressive feat. This year, she partners with Polish navigator Marcin Pasek aboard a new car, the Red-Lined Revo T1+ GTR. She won’t be the only Koloc flying the colours of Buggyra ZM Racing in the desert as her father, Martin, also lines up in the T1+ class.
In 2025, she set up the Foundation 29 to “preserve cultural heritage and support autism communities around the world”. As she has previously stated, racing has given her a global platform to connect with people, and she wants to use it to make a positive impact beyond motorsport.
Father and daughter duo back for more
Lucie Baud and her father, Lionel, are back together for their third Dakar Rally as a father-daughter duo. Businessman Lionel is taking part in his seventh Dakar, with Lucie taking to the dunes for the third time as his co-driver.
Lucie first competed with her father at 16 years old in the Ronde du Jura rally, and this year, as in 2025, the duo will drive a Mini powered by HVO, a fuel produced from hydrotreated vegetable and cooking oil, which reduces CO2 emissions by 80%.
Puck Klaassen is back after a year of learning
Puck Klaassen is ready to take on Dakar for the third time, having competed with her father in 2024 for the first time. This year, she is joined by Augusto Sanz, who will take part in his fourth Dakar. Klaassen grew up in South Africa racing motorbikes and go-karts before spending seven years as a show jumper.
Three years ago, she took up motocross but got injured, so she switched to driving cars. In her first race in the Challenger class, she finished eighth at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, and last year she completed all legs of the W2RC, finishing seventh overall.
Italian driver Rebecca Busi competes with X-raid Team
Rebecca Busi is the newest member of the X-raid team and will take part in the race with navigator Sergio Lafuente. Busi was the youngest Italian female competitor to finish the 2022 Dakar Rally. The same year, she finished in fourth position in the overall T4 classification in the World Rally-Raid Championship.
After missing the 2025 running, Busi is back competing in the Challenger class.
Radiology Technician Elisa Huguenin is back as navigator for Aurélien Bouchet
Competing in Dakar for the second time, Elisa Huguenin is back for more after a 16th-place finish in 2025. Taking part to honour her father's memory and build on last year's success, she is hungry for more. She will also be celebrating her 40th birthday at the bivouac.
Katerina Vanova is competing with her husband after beating cancer
As the first married Czech couple, Katerina Vanova and Petr Vana will compete in a 1990 Toyota 4Runner, which they rebuilt themselves in the Classic Auto class. Vanova is a movement therapist and her father was part of the team that built Jliri Moskal’s Liaz truck, which won two Dakar podiums in 1987 and 1988.
Vanova has faced extraordinary challenges, having two tumours, nine operations and a year of chemotherapy. She is a survivor, and they both take part in events alongside an organisation that supports people with cancer and their loved ones.
Katerina and Petr will drive for the organisation, raising awareness about prevention and early diagnosis and work to challenge the stigma that still surrounds cancer.
Kim Matzen wants to tick Dakar off her bucket list
Kim Matzen is a trailblazer. She started racing 12 years ago, driving a 4500 Modified rock crawler, and has partnered with Chris Kelly since 2024.
They finished seventh in their category at the King of Hammers race, as the first step towards Dakar. Compagnie Saharienne have provided them with a Toyota Land Cruiser 78 DKR, which they both tested in September in Morocco ahead of their maiden participation in the Dakar Classic.
Esther Merino is competing in the Mission 1000 category
Esther Merino is the only woman competing on an electric motorcycle in a team with Miguel Puertas and Fran Gómez.
Merino is no stranger to Dakar and in 2022, competed with her seven siblings across four cars in the Dakar Classic class. As a motorcycle salesperson, her love for motorsports runs in her blood; however, she didn’t start riding until she was 30.
Lisette has established herself as one of the most prominent navigators on the off-road scene
Lisette Bakker made her Dakar Rally debut as part of an all-female team in 2023, but was forced to retire early. She was back in 2025 and she withdrew once again. This year, she’s chasing a finisher's medal.
Winner of the FIA Women’s Cross-Country Selection, she has established herself as one of the leading navigators in the off-road scene. Since Dakar 2023, Bakker has continued to refine her navigation skills by competing in numerous events, including rounds of the World Rally-Raid Championship.
Rookie Vic Flip (Victoria Swarovski) is aiming for the finish line
Vic Flip (Victoria Swarovski) is making her first appearance at Dakar with navigator Stefan Henken. She is concentrating on finishing, learning and gaining experience competing in the Challenger class.
She has an amateur rally and off-road background and focuses on navigation and endurance and Henken will compete in his ninth Dakar after her initial teammate decided to withdraw.
Brigitte Reitbauer is ready for the adventure
Brigitte Reitbauer grew up in the German countryside, discovered her love for off-road driving in 1993, and was immediately recruited into a team. She joined the Paris-Dakar in 1994, driving a truck for the organisation, transporting boxes for the motorcycle riders.
She moved into the passenger seat and has competed in over 35 rallies worldwide. She is competing in Dakar with teammate Ulrich Schmidt in the Classic Auto class, in a Mercedes Classe G.
Valentina Pertegarini and her husband are back after an incredible 2025 season
Valentina Pertegarini and her husband and driving partner Nicolás Cavigliasso are back at Dakar after one of the best years of their lives in 2025. The reigning 2025 Dakar Challenger Class Champions are back to defend their title.
Pertegarini ended the year as FIA Challenger Rally Raid Co-driver Champion for the second year in a row. In 2024, she became the first woman to win a FIA World Rally-Raid Championship title.
Meet the rest of the women taking on the challenge
French co-driver
Partnered with Fabrice Morin, her husband
First Dakar Rally
Classic Auto Toyota HDJ 100
Number 746
Hilde De Sutter
Belgium co-driver
Partnered with Stéphane Gutzwiller
Classic Auto Toyota HDJ 80
Number 744
Italian co-driver
Partnered with Luciano Carcheri
Second Dakar Rally; first was with Jutta Kleinschmidt in 2005, finishing in third place in the car category.
Classic Auto Isuzu Vehicross
Number 719
Tabatha Romon
Spanish co-driver
Partnered with Rafael Lesmes
Classic Auto Toyota HDJ 80
Number 712
Dutch co-driver
Partnered with Egbert Wingens and Marijn Beekmans
Fourth Dakar Rally
Truck Iveco Torpedo
Number 617
French navigator
Partnered with Gauthier Honvault
SSV Class
Number 439
Armelle Henry
French co-driver
Partnered with Alexandre Giroud
Challenger
Number 308
Nekane Abin
Spanish navigator
Partnered with Jaime Martínez Canteli and Iker Extebarria
Classic Truck Mercedes 1936 AK
Number 913
Lourdes Puigmal
Spanish navigator
Partnered with Dorian Bardeau and Franck Puchouau
Second Dakar
Classic Truck Renault Kerax
Number 910
Syndiely Wade
French navigator
Partnered with Giuseppe Francesco Simonato and Alexander Sorbelli
Classic Truck Iveco 190
Number 903
Vichi Carlevaris
Italian co-driver
Partnered with Francesco Valente
Classic Auto Mercedes Classe G
Number 797
Italian co-driver
Partnered with Filippo Colnaghi
Classic Auto Nissan Patrol
Number 754
Italian co-driver
Partnered with Giuliano Bergo
Second Dakar
Classic Auto Mitsubishi Evolution
Number 753
Simona Morosi
Italian co-driver
Partnered with Francesco Pece
Fifth Dakar
Classic Auto Nissan Terrano
Number 723
Alexia Giugni
Italian co-driver
Partnered with Marco Ernesto Leva
Classic Auto Mitsubishi Pajero
Number 705
Spanish co-driver
Partnered with Juan Morera
Classic Auto Porsche 959 Dakar
Number 702
Dutch co-driver
Partnered with Dave Klaassen, her husband
T1+: Prototype Cross-Country Cars 4x4 – DKR Evo Ultimate
Number 254
The Dakar Rally 2026 represents a significant milestone for women in the sport. Women from diverse backgrounds demonstrate that passion, endurance, and talent transcend gender. Confronting the intense challenges of this race, they inspire women in motorsport and anyone eager to push their boundaries.